Stoker



Nov, 5, 1946.

c. .K. STEINS 2,410,529 STOKER Filed 001:. 19, 1944 5 Sheets She t 1 INVENTOR: Chz'letonKSiems,

A TTORNEYS.

Nov. 5, 1946; c. K. STEINS 1 STOKER Filed Oct. 19, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR: Carla i'oizifiSteilw,

ATTORNEYS. I

C. K. STEINS Nov. 5; 1946.

STOKER Filed Oct. 19, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR:

Carfi'fitems, BY W W 4 ATTORNEYS.

Nov. 5, 1945. c. K. STEINS STOKER 5 Sheets-Sheet; 4

INVENTOR: Uarlefonii'feifls,

' ATTORNEYS.

Filed Oct. 19, 1944 r I I i l N vll {ll N09. 5, 1946. c, STEINS 2,410,529

STOKER Filed Oct. 19, 1944 s Sheet-Sheet s INVENTORE ('miezmKLSie/us',

ATTORNEYS.

' tions,

Patented Nov. 5, 1946 Carleton K. Steins,-Merion, Pa.,

Pennsylvania Railroad Company,

assignor to The Philadelphia,

Pa" a corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 19, 1944, Serial No. 559,396

2 Claims.

This invention relates to stokers, that is to say, I

to devices for automatically feeding solid fuel into furnaces; and it is concerned more par-- ticularly with stokers intended for domestic use. The chief aim of my invention is to provide a stoker of the sort referred to which is simple and compact; which is immune against easy derangement andtherefore reliable in operation; which is efficient as regards fuel consumption; which is readily adaptable for position to suit different types of furnaces; and which, more over, lends itself to economic production in quantity as considered both from the standpoint of the material required, and from the standpoint of the labor costs involved in its construction and in the assembling of its component parts.

Other objects and attendant advantages will appear from the following description of the attached drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a view, in side elevation, of a stoker conveniently embodying my invention showing the same in association with a hot water househeating furnace which latter is fragmentarily illustrated in cross section.

Fig. 2 shows the elevation of the outer end i of the stoker as it appears when viewed from the right of Fig. 1, with a portion of its fuel supply hopper partly broken out and in section.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the organization shown in Fig. 1 with a cover of the supply hopper removed and portions of said hopper broken away to expose important details which would otherwise be hidden.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in longitudinal section taken as indicated by the angled arrows IVIV in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the portion of the stoker shown in Fig. 4, with certain parts drawn in horizontal section.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view in section taken as indicated by the angled arrows VI'-VI in Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view in horizontal section taken as indicated by the angled arrows VIIVII in Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view in vertical section taken as indicated by the angled arrows VIII-VIII in Figs. 1 and 3: and

Fig. 9 is a detail section taken as indicated by the angled arrows IX-IX in Figs. 1 and 3.

With more Specific reference to these illustra- Hl designates a supply hopper for storage of finely comminuted solid fuel such, for example coal of buckwheat or rice sizes, said hopper being cylindric and having a frusto-conical bottom which terminates in a central gravity discharge opening. In addition to a tight fitting cover II the hopper is provided with a coarse mesh screen element I! which is removably supported by a plurality of circumferentially spaced lugs 13 disposed somewhat below the top edge of the hopper wall, and which is peripherally reinforced by a ring l5 of stout wire. Surrounding the discharge opening of the hopper I0 is a reinforcing outlet annulus it which is internally recessed as shown in Fig. 6 to fit over an; annular seat i'l' around the top inlet opening of a casting l8 to which it is secured by screws 16a (Figs. 1 and 4), said casting having a diametrically enlarged bell l9 at one end and a rearwardly-extending' laterally-ofiset neck portion 20. Extending into the bore of the casting ill at the bell end is a cylindric conduit 2| which is secured by set screws. 22 (Figs. 4 and 5) and through which the fuel is conducted from the hopper ill, in a manner presently explained, to a burner 23 within the fire box of the hot water furnace which is comprehensively designated by the numeral 25 in Figs. 1 and 3. Surrounding the conduit 2| with provision of an annular interval 26, is a tube 21 of large diameter whereof the outer end fits into and is secured in the mouth of the bell end l 9' of the casting l8 by set screws 28, said tube communicating with the passage in the offset portion 20 of said casting through which air is introduced under pressure, also as later on explained, to support combustion of the fuel in the furnace. From Figs. 1 and 3 it will be noted that the conduit 2| and the surrounding tube 21 extend into the fire box of the furnace 25 through an opening in the side wall of the latter, said opening being sealed air-tight around said tube by fire-proof packing 29 held in place by a backing member 30. The burner 23 previously re'erred to is in the form .of a casting having upturned inner and outer elbow shells 3| and 32 which are respectively connected to the conduit 2| and the tube 21 by screws Ma and 32a (Fig. 5). As shown the inner shell 3| .of the burner 23 is supplemented by an upwardly flared tuyre 33 of which the periphery rests in a recessed annular seat in the top of the outer shell while its lower end is engaged in an annular groove at the top of said shell, said tuyre being perforated and formed by a series of removable interlocking segments which are held down in place by a beveled cap ring 34- at the top of the burner and secured by screws 3411 (Figs. 3 and 9); Disposed within the conduit 2| is a screw conveyer 35 by which the fuel is conducted from the storage hopper ID to the burner 23, the shaft 36 of the screw conveyer passing through a bearing 31 set into the outer end of the bore of the casting l3. With its outlet neck connected to the ofiset passage 20 of the casting l8 by screws 20a (Figs. 3 and 5) is a centrifugal blower 40 which is cast en bloc with a shelf ll whereon is supported an electric driving motor 42. As shown in Fig. 7, the shaft 3 of the blower ing comprises a worm 48 on the blower shaft, and

an inter-meshing worm wheel 49 which is secured to the upper end of a'vertical shaft 50 and which in turn carries a worm that meshes with a worm wheel 52 on the screw conveyor blower housing and of which the latter is pro-- vided by a closure cap 55 secured in an opening in the bottom of the housing 41. The screw conveyer shaft 36 extends into the interior of the housing 4'! through an integral bearing 56 at one side of the latter and receives further rota' tive support in a separate bearing 51 provided by a cap 58 (Fig. 7) which closes an access opening 59 in the opposite side of said housing. For convenience of access to its interior, the gear housing 41 is provided with a removable cover 55. It is kept filled with oil to the level indicated at L in Fig. 8 so that the worm 5| and the wheel 52 as well as the bearings 53, 54 and 56, 51 for the shafts 50 and 36 are continuously lubricated.

A disk 66 on the blower fan shaft 43 carries up oil from the supply in the housing 41 to a pendent distributing fin 61 on the cover 65 for conduction to the bearings 68 and 69 for said shaft. In order that the influx of air into the blower 40 may be regulated, there is provided a guard disk 10 which is adjustably supported by a screw bolt H engaged in the central boss 12 of a spider 13 within the air inlet opening 14 in the outer side of the blower casing.

The storage hopper I0 is supported from the floor by posts 15 which are adjustable in boss plates 16 bolted to the hopper bottom and securable in adjusted position by set screws shown at H in Figs. 1 and 2.- The blower motor unit is similarly supported by posts 18 which are adjustable in lugs 19 and 80 formed on the blower casing and on the shelf 4| and which are securable in adjusted positions by set screws indicated at BI and 82. stoker by posts 83' adjustably engaged in the opposite ends of a transverse cradle bar 84 welded or otherwise secured to the bottom of the tube 21;

its compactness and simplicity my improved stoker can be produced and assembled at small cost and easily, and that it can be set up at the time of its installation for use with the furnace,

without necessitating the use of special tools or the employment of skilled help. Since both the screw conveyor and the blower 40 are driven from a single motor through gearing enclosed in a housing, and by reason of the fact provisions are made for self-lubrication of the moving parts within such housing, the stoker will require no attention whatever except for the renewal of the lubricant at long protracted intervals and for cleaning of the burner in case it should become clogged. Construction of the motor-supporting shelf integrally with the blower casing is advantageous in that the blower, the motor and the driving gearing can be assembledv and produced as a unit at the factory. The stoker of my invention is further unique in that itdoes not require a pit, at the furnace for its'accommodation and in that it is bodily adjustable vertically and therefore. easily adaptable to furnaces of different types.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A furnace stoker comprising a supply hop-.

per for solid fuel, said hopper having a bottom with a forwardly-extending neck portion and a laterally-offset rearwardly-extending communicating neck portion; an air-conducting tube connected to the forwardly-extending neck portion of the hopper bottom and leading to a burner within the furnace; a smaller fuel-conducting tube within the air-conducting tube connecting into the hopper bottom and also leading to said burner; a feed screw within the fuel-conducting tube having its shaft protruding through the hopper bottom at the rear; 9. motor driven blower with its casing connected to the rearwardly-extending neck portion of the hopper bottom; a motor for driving the blower; and speed reducing gearing interposed between the blower shaft and Additional support is afforded the In the operation of the stoker, the fuel gravitating in the hopper l0 through the bottom outlet of the latter into the bowl portion of the casting I8 is advanced in the conduit 2i to the burner 23. At the same time the constant stream of air within the housing 41 is so proportioned that the screw conveyor 35 and the blower 40 are driven at relative speeds such that the burner 23 is kept filled with fuel and an adequate supply of air is furnished to insure complete combustion.

As the fuel is consumed, the ashes arespilled over the edges of the cap ring 34 on the burner 23 into the ash pit at the bottom of the furnace, this movement of the ashes being facilitated by reason of the beveling of said cap ring 34.

From the foregoing itwill be seen that due to the fuel feed screw.

2. A furnace stoker comprising a supply hopper for solid fuel, said hopper having a bottom with aforwardly-extending neck portion, and a laterally-offset rearwardly-extending neck portion in communication with the forwardly-extending neck portion; an air conducting tube connected to the forwardly-extending neck portion of the hopper bottom and adapted to lead to a burner within the furnace; a smaller fuel conducting tube within the air conducting tube connecting into the hopper bottom and also leading to said burner; a feedscrew within the fuel conducting tube having its shaft protruding through the hopper bottom at the rear; and a combined air supply and power unit including a blower fan having a casing with the outlet thereof connected to the rearwardly-extending neck portion of the hopper bottom, and a closed housing laterally offset from the casing through which the fan shaft extends horizontally, a motor directly connected to the protruding end of the fan shaft, a power shaft connected to the protruding end of the fuel feed screw aforesaid and extending into the housing, and speed reduction gearing within said housing interposed between said power shaft and said fan shaft whereby the feed screw is driven at reduced speed from said fan shaft.

CARLE'ION K. STEINS. 

